Report on the 1st Irish Open Canoe Festival 27 – 29 AUGUST 2004
The First Irish Open Canoe Festival – August 2004
Once again The BlueLough Canoe Festival was a huge success. 40 people attended the Festival for the whole weekend with an additional few on the Sunday. This year there was a larger contingent of people travelling over from the UK mainland than those actually from Northern Ireland and Ireland.
This years event would not have been the same if it had not of been for those people who devoted their time all in the interests of the development of the sport. A big thank you must go to Colin Broadway for bringing over a huge range of canoes (including Old Town, Bell, Mobile Adventure, to name a few) paddles and poles, Andrew and Sam Wilkinson of Outdoor Active for bringing over a trailer of We-no-nah canoes and various other pieces of equipment. Steve MacDonald and Anna Gordon from Beyond Adventure, and Clare Knifton from Outward Bound, for their invaluable support and coaching. Also to Matt Peach and David Bell for coming along and representing CANI and CAAN. Finally but not least thank you to all those who attended the Festival, it would not have been the same without you
A participant’s perspective!
After Stevie Mac spread rumours of much jollity to be had in Ireland, we decided to throw caution to the wind and join in the fun at the First Irish Open Canoe Festival.
We arrived Friday night to a picturesque tent display which John, Dave and Donal had spent too much time putting up. Declining the offer of our own personal marquee, we pitched our own generously sized family tent in order to hide the kayak that Tony had brought with him
(Ssh! don’t mention the kayak). He did have some excellent surfing in it off the west coast of Donegal prior to the canoeing event.
The local pub was tested and found suitable for much drinking and chat. The Scottish contingent (Steve MacDonald, Anna Gordon, Clare Knifton & Colin Broadway) displayed impeccable timing arriving just before last orders.
The next morning there was a rather relaxed start to the day in the fine weather, the informal nature of the gathering showing itself. There was a variety of sessions on offer and we chose to start with how to effectively kit out your boat followed by how to rescue your now well kitted out boat. We were quite impressed with how Clare managed to teach the various methods of rescue without getting wet in any way. But it was an informative and interesting session. Bravo to the intrepid swimmers who allowed the rest of us to practice in dryness.
After lunch, Tony decided to join the poling and sailing workshop, and as he wanted to be alone, I volunteered to assume a supervisory position on the bridge at Dundrum, in the sun with a book. The tide level was ideal for poling- however the “intro to white water” group were required to improvise and use much imagination. The poling group returned to Castlewellan Lake to try out the many sail rigs that were available. The brisk wind that had been present all day dropped at this point allowing the sailors to enjoy a prolonged but pleasant paddle along the full length of the lake. The sails did look lovely.
There followed a very competitive bungee boat challenge. This was refereed by the BlueLough Boys, who then claimed to win it, interesting! Our thanks go out to the many cows that attended the biggest BBQ meat fest Castlewellan has ever seen. It was a grand nosh followed by plenty of enthusiastic!!! singing. Cliff Rescue and the Helicopters are available for weddings, christenings and other private bookings. For some the party ended earlyish, for others it didn’t, the campfire and chat continued well into the night. The pole dancing was cancelled as agreement could not be reached on whether a Kevlar or aluminuim pole was appropriate.
Sunday dawned even later than Saturday. In the spirit of last years Sunday paddl,; Marty did try to recruit takers for a tidal race paddle in a force seven against the flow. There were many volunteers indicating the nutty nature of the participants of the festival. But wisdom prevailed and the whole group set out on a discovery of Strangford Lough. The wind was brisk and mighty and some extreme sailing was finally achieved.
The weekend was a relaxing and fun time. It is always great to see a huge collection of canoes in the one place (there was much appreciation for We-No-Nah represented by Andrew and Sam of Outdoor Active and also for Colin Broadway for bringing so many of theirs for us to try out). It was a great opportunity to feel part of the larger canoeing community and spend time with people with the same passions. The BlueLough Boys did a grand job of facilitating the event, and Steve, Anna and Clare lead a wide range of sessions that were excellent. The only question left, is what are they going to call the second, First Irish Open Canoe Festival.
Clare Graham
Freewill Outdoor Pursuits
Plans for nest years Festival (Name to be decided!!!) are already underway and the dates have been set as the 26th – 28th August 2005. So get it in your diary now!
Finally, if you would like more information on this Festival, or others, check out the following websites:
www.canoesymposium.co.uk, www.mountainandwater.com, or call 028 4377 0715